Show Notes - Week of June 10, 2019

Blame Canada!:
The wisdom of South Park is relevant once again, this time as I resurrected the "Blame Canada" scene while listening to an episode of the Indicator podcast from Planet Money. The episode in particular was from May 23 and was titled "Canada's Tariff Hangover".  ​The episode was about the ending of the trade war and tariffs imposed by the US on Canada and vice versa, and in particular about a small business in Ottawa that was particularly impacted by the tariffs imposed on Magic: The Gathering cards coming in from the US. Near the end of the episode, the hosts drawing the conclusion that the small business owner should be upset with the Canadian government for imposing the retaliatory tariffs. To quote from the transcript:

... the Canadian government is what ended up causing Dave all this harm, if you think about it, because it was Canada's retaliation that imposed those tariffs on Magic cards in the first place. So it kind of shows you that when a country's government retaliates, it can end up really hurting some of its own people."

Trade wars are damaging to both sides. That's why they are called trade wars, and not trade parties, or trade fun-things. And yes, there were damages to Canadian business by the increased tariffs. However, to call out the Canadian government for the particular damage to this one store conveniently omits the fact that the Canadian tariffs were retaliations, meaning of course that they were in response to the opening tariff salvo imposed on Canada by the US. 

Blame Canada, indeed.

BYDTWD, or How Much Meta is Too Much Meta?:
In our weekly D&D lunch hour session this week, our PCs encountered some weird elf-spider hybrid who was clearly thousands of years old. In talking to the DM after the session, his inspiration for a lot of this setting is a riff on the drow spider queen, Lolth. However, it isn't the same Lolth that we would see in the Drizzt books or in other canon material in books, game supplements or in computer RPGs.

This is something that is hard for me to wrap my head around. How much should I read about Forgotten Realms if the DM is not going to adhere to what I have read? Sure there is a Nashkel, but it isn't exactly the same as the Nashkel I know from Baldur's Gate. Does the information I know from the game help or hinder me as a player? Am I going to make a bad decision because Quinemin the PC knows a different world from Robert the player? Understanding the world the PC is in is important so that role playing is better, and so that better decisions are made. I just don't know if I am actually going to make better decisions because my context is inconsistent with the actual environment. Or maybe the DM doesn't have the world completely figured out and therefore my knowledge will help guide the game in a good way. Or maybe I should just stop thinking so hard and just play the game. 

Reading Pile:
I only finished one book last week. "Artemis" by Andy Weir was a good book but certainly wasn't what I thought it would be. Of course, when your first book is "The Martian" and it gets turned into a movie, it probably is hard to battle the expectations and preconceived ideas of what your second book will be. 

I will try to never post any spoilers on this blog, so I won't go too much into detail, but I will say that the feasibility of a lunar colony seems much more likely in my mind after reading this novel. Plus, the description of the life cycles of economies was very though provoking. 

Good book. Definitely readable. Didn't grab me like The Martian, but then not much does. Let's say 3.0 / 5.

New music:
A wickedly cool album fell into my Bandcamp feed this week. "Red Hot and Holy", from Sarah and the Safe Word is a ten song album that has an infectious beat and a definite edge. My favorite songs on the album, such as The Louisville Shuffle (RIP) and Lit Cigarette, are those songs with the most cabaret / show tunes / theatrical feeling to them. The others are good as well, but I'm a big fan of the songs with the layered vocals and rollicking piano. Good stuff. 

New Beers:
Just one beer or beer equivalent this week. The 408 Months ale was full of fruit, and in a nice cross-over with the new words of the week, I learned that pomace wasn't just limited to apples. (3.50 / 5)

New Words:

pom·ace
[ˈpəməs]
NOUN

1. (especially in cider making) the pulpy residue remaining after fruit has been crushed in order to extract its juice.

ten·den·tious
[tenˈdenSHəs]
ADJECTIVE

1. expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one.
   "a tendentious reading of history"

ex·u·date
[ˈeksədāt, ˈeksyo͞oˌdāt]
NOUN

1. medicine
   a mass of cells and fluid that has seeped out of blood vessels or an organ, especially in inflammation. botany
2. entomology
   a substance secreted by a plant or insect.

sin·ter
[ˈsin(t)ər]
NOUN

1. geology
   a hard siliceous or calcareous deposit precipitated from mineral springs.
2. solid material which has been sintered, especially a mixture of iron ore and other materials prepared for smelting.
   "typical blast-furnace burdens are 80% sinter, 20% ore"

VERB

1. make (a powdered material) coalesce into a solid or porous mass by heating it (and usually also compressing it) without liquefaction.

li·bra·tion
[līˈbrāSHən]
NOUN
astronomy

1. an apparent or real oscillation of the moon, by which parts near the edge of the disc that are often not visible from the earth sometimes come into view.

la·cu·na
[ləˈk(y)o͞onə]
NOUN

1. an unfilled space or interval; a gap.
2. a missing portion in a book or manuscript.
3. anatomy
   • a cavity or depression, especially in bone.

con·viv·i·al·i·ty
[kənˌvivēˈalədē]
NOUN

1. the quality of being friendly and lively; friendliness.​